


Fireworks: New Year's Eve

by Zephyrfox



Series: Real Legend [18]
Category: GoldenEye (1995), James Bond (Craig movies), Legends (2014), Merlin (TV), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fireworks, Gwaine Being Gwaine, Happy New Year!, M/M, New Year's Eve, No one gets hurt, Q didn't sign up for this, it's all fun, mentions of many characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 12:09:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17324738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephyrfox/pseuds/Zephyrfox
Summary: Alec's been planning his fireworks show for New Year's Eve for months, so how did Q end up in charge of the guest list?





	Fireworks: New Year's Eve

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be finished and posted for New Year's Eve, but it took a little longer than planned. Thanks to Jaimistoryteller, Linorien, and Womble for betaing and encouragement.
> 
> Happy New Year, everyone!

 

“We’re having fireworks for New Year’s, right, Dad?”

Q looked up from his dinner at Aiden’s question and slanted his eyes towards Alec, waiting to hear what the answer would be. Last July they’d watched a fireworks show on his computer at home to commemorate the American 4th of July holiday after Alec and James grilled hotdogs and hamburgers on the balcony. Alec had promised then that this New Year’s Eve would be a live event. Knowing his lover as he did, he’d been looking forward to what Alec would come up with.

Alec traded glances with James, then smirked at their son. “Of course we are. I have everything planned.”

 _Oh dear._ Why did that make him uneasy?

  

~~~~

 

“Papa?”

Q looked up from his computer. Eyes wide, hopeful smile… _he wants something._ “Yes, Aiden?”

“Can I invite Vin and Steve to watch the fireworks?” Aiden bit his lip, waiting.

 _Oh. That’s not too bad, actually._ “I don’t see why not, as long as their parents approve.”

“I think their parents will be out. Their Uncle Sebastian will be watching them. He’ll have to come too. Thanks, Papa!” Aiden’s smile changed to a huge grin, and he gave Q a quick hug. “I’ll go let them know.”

Q watched Aiden race off. The twins’ uncle? He sighed. He’d have to keep an eye on James. Those two didn’t get along.

 

~~~~

 

Q’s computer chimed. It was a chime that had nothing to do with what he was typing. _What? Oh._ He clicked on the video chat application, which opened a window revealing his brother, peering expectantly out from the screen.

“Q? Are you there?”

 _Oops._ He reached over the monitor to grab the camera from where it dangled behind the computer and set it into place.

“There you are!” Merlin’s eyes lit up. “Are you three coming to our New Year’s Party?”

He winced. He’d completely forgotten about Merlin’s party. “Not this year, I’m sorry. Alec is putting together a fireworks display.”

Instead of being upset, Merlin looked intrigued. “Any fireworks show Alec puts together is bound to be great. D’you mind if Arthur and I tag along?”

“No, not at all. Should be fun, so the more the merrier.”

“Great!”

Merlin looked away, calling out to his husband, as he blindly reached for the control to close the video chat. “Arthur! The party is canceled! Well, relocated. We’re having it at Alec’s fireworks show. You tell your squad, I’ll let your sister know, and she can tell Gwen —”

Q sighed as the screen went black.

_Great._

 

~~~~

 

Q walked briskly down the hallway at MI6 towards the executive suite. He was almost late for a budget meeting with Mallory. _M._ He really needed to stop letting Alec and James influence him. To them, Mallory still wasn’t M, and might never be. He entered the office and nodded to Moneypenny as he bypassed her desk to head directly to M’s office. “Hello, Eve.”

“Q, wait!” Moneypenny left her desk, moving directly into his path, to block the way to the inner sanctum.

“Of course. Is there something wrong? I know I’m late for my meeting with your boss.”

“He’s in with Tanner now. They should be done in a few minutes.” When she saw that he wasn’t going attempt to get by her to enter M’s office, she moved back to sit on the edge of her desk, smiling at him.

 _Why?_ If he were James or Alec, she would expect him to banter with her. Did she expect him to say something? He looked around, wondering if he should bother sitting in one of the visitor chairs. Before he could decide, Moneypenny spoke up.

“Do you have any plans for New Year’s?”

“Er, yes. Alec is setting up a fireworks show, and my brother, his husband, and some of their friends are coming —”

“Fireworks?” Moneypenny fairly pounced on his words. “And _Alec_ is planning it? I’d love to come, Q, thank you!”

Q stared at her in consternation, almost missing the sound of M’s office door opening.

“What’s all this?” Tanner asked as he stepped out of the airlock.

“Q’s invited us to Alec’s fireworks show on New Year’s!” Eve announced before Q could stop her.

Tanner’s eyes lit up. “That should be a great show, thanks for the invitation!”

Q groaned.

 

~~~~

 

“How did the meeting with M go?” Danielle Marsh, his second in command, asked the minute he came through the doors of Q branch.

Q failed to notice the interested heads of his technicians turning towards them. “Just fine. The rough part was before the meeting. Moneypenny and Tanner invited themselves to Alec’s fireworks show on New Year’s Eve.”

“Alec is having a fireworks show?”

 _Oh, shit._ He recognized that voice. Q looked around, cringing. Every single person in the branch was watching, and that included Penda Stone, 008. “Er, yes?”

Penda smirked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s something I definitely want to see. I’ll let Ksenia know. I’m sure the other Double O’s will want to be there, too.”

All of his techs were watching avidly. Q resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands, and gave in to the inevitable. “Yes, yes. You’re all invited.”

 

~~~~

 

“Cousin!”

Q fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. _Why had he answered the phone in the first place? Oh, yes, social programming. Phone rings, answer it._ “What is it, Sherlock?”

“I’m hurt. I was at a murder scene with John, and Geoffrey was there —”

“You mean Greg,” Q corrected. “Honestly, Sherlock, why do you insist on pretending you can’t remember the names of your friends? You’re just as much a genius as Merlin and I.”

Sherlock huffed, annoyed. “Fine, Greg. Anyway, _Greg_ told John that Arthur told him that the New Year’s party got moved because Alec is doing fireworks this year, and of course I know that we’re invited because _obviously,_ but John wanted me to check anyway.”

Q blinked as he worked through what his cousin _hadn’t_ said, and came up with Sherlock wanted reassurance that he and John were still invited. “Of course you are both still invited.”

“Of course we are,” Sherlock scoffed. “That’s what I told John. And, oh! Of course. That’s the answer. I’ve got to go, Q. I’ve just solved this murder. John! We need to go —”

Q was left listening to silence as Sherlock disconnected. Maybe they ought to invite all of London to the party...

 

~~~~

 

Despite Q’s initial misgivings, nothing dire occurred in the days leading up to the year’s end. Well. Other than the usual, at any rate, and his computers and the various Double O’s were more than up to the task of sorting things out where needed. He knew Mallory was quite pleased at the way matters were settled in different parts of the globe.

Closer to home, however, his computers were no help at all. Infuriatingly, Alec refused to reveal anything that he had planned for the fireworks display, so Q had to wait for New Year’s Eve along with everyone else they had invited.

 

~~~~

 

Q’s breath puffed in the air like miniature clouds of smoke as he sat on the bench huddled into his oversized parka. He pulled his knit cap lower over his ears and rewrapped his scarf against the chill night air. The newly full moon ensured there was plenty of light, yet it was still dark enough for the fireworks. Around him, his family and their friends waited for the show to start, enjoying the pre-show music playing over the radio. Alec was out of sight, keeping a close eye on his equipment, to make sure the show went off without a hitch.

The police were there in force. Off duty, of course. Sherlock’s friend Greg Lestrade, and some of his coworkers had shown up earlier, bringing a dozen folding chairs. Gwen and Arthur’s sister Morgan, both police constables, had brought a few mates of their own.

Morgan and Gwen sat with Lance. If he remembered correctly, Gwen and Lance were dating. Ah, and it looked like the rest of Arthur’s squadmates were arriving. Percy walked up, shooting Q a wary, wild-eyed look before sitting next to Morgan. Gwaine swaggered up behind them with his characteristic grin and winked at Q. _What was that all about?_ He’d have to ask Merlin later. His brother usually knew all the gossip in Arthur’s unit.

Moneypenny sat with some of the off-duty Double O’s. John was talking with Tanner, while Sherlock ostentatiously ignored them — except when he thought John wasn’t looking. Then Sherlock would shift ever-so-slightly closer.

Aiden and his friends, twins Vin and Steve Moran, chased each other around the yard, laughing and joking. James and the twins’ uncle Sebastian, ostensibly supervising the trio, stood eyeing each other instead, as if they were two guard dogs deciding whether to attack.

Merlin sat down next to him, breaking his concentration, and bumped his shoulder. “You know what they’re planning?”

Q frowned, then realized his brother _wasn’t_ talking about James and Sebastian. He shook his head. “What do you mean ‘they’? Alec was working on this by himself.”

“Nope,” Arthur announced, clapping him on the shoulder and sitting down beside Merlin. “Alec’s been talking with Gwaine, and last week they pulled in Lance and Percy. Gwaine said something about a pyrotechnic extravaganza. They’ve been thick as thieves ever since.”

Q stared at his brother-in-law. “Really?” How in the world had he missed that? He twisted in his seat to narrow his eyes at James, who had obviously been covering for the miscreants. Ice blue eyes met his. He huffed as James smirked at him. His lover had obviously heard them talking.

“So this is an Alec _and_ Gwaine-influenced fireworks display? Dear gods.” He shuddered at the thought of Gwaine throwing around words like _pyrotechnic,_ and unscrewed the top of his thermos. He sipped his tea, wishing it were something stronger. He was sure that most the guests had nothing as innocuous in their thermoses. In fact, his was fairly certain that several of the Double O’s and the police had something suitably… spirituous in their thermoses. Maybe he could get them to share…

The alarm on his watch beeped. He turned it off and called, “Boys, it’s almost time.”

With happy shrieks, the three boys flung themselves onto the blanket spread out on the ground next to him.

“Make sure your coats are zipped up, you don’t want to get chilled,” James told the boys as he sat beside Q on the bench. Three near-identical huffs of impatience at parental level interference were accompanied by practically audible eye-rolls.

“He’s right,” the deep voice of the twins’ uncle rumbled unexpectedly, sounding as though Sebastian didn’t speak all that much. “It’s cold and you’ve all worked up a sweat. Zip up.”

Of course, after that slight display of agreement, James and Sebastian went back to glaring at each other.

Q sighed and poked James in the side. “You haven’t found any evidence of criminal activity on the twins’ uncle. Leave it be.”

“I haven’t found anything _yet,”_ James said, but he turned his attention to Q, leaning in to ask, “How are you doing?”

“Waiting for my lover to pay attention to me instead of probably innocent citizens.”

James’s eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled and wrapped his arm around Q. “All right, I’ll take the rest of the night off.”

Q snuggled into James’s side. “Good. Get ready, the show is about to start.”

 

~~~~

 

The music cut off. In the sudden silence, a measured set of four drumbeats drew everyone’s attention. Q looked skyward, holding his breath. A soft _fwump_ was followed by a dark shape launching high into the air where it exploded into thousands of twinkling lights, becoming an ephemeral numeral 5, floating above them for an instant before it faded. A second firework followed closely behind, producing a sparkling 4. By this time the everyone had caught on, and they all joined in chanting, “Four! Three! Two! One!” as each of the next numbers burst into shimmering life, there and then gone again in the space of a few breaths.

Another firework sped whistling into the night, bursting into a series of different colored globes, red inside green inside silver. They hung in the air for a moment and then shivered until each dot of light became a streak, resembling a giant dandelion puff before they faded from view, and everyone shouted, “Happy New Year!”

Music started again. “Auld Lang Syne,” accompanied by fireworks leaping for the sky and exploding into different colors. Spirals of color shot joyously through the air, sending sprays of gold and silver dripping from the sky.

The next balls of light launched skyward with loud _pops,_ and scattered crackling tendrils of light throughout the night. Another dandelion puffed into existence. This time the streaks of white glittered at the outside edge of the globe, sizzling and twinkling, faster and faster, until all that remained were the the many-colored sparkles forming a hollow globe, and then they, too, faded amid the smoke. Q wouldn’t put it past either Alec _or_ Gwaine not to have accounted for the wind dispersing the smoke, considering how it seemed to enhance the glow of the fireworks.

Q lost track of how many fireworks hurtled skyward, trailing streaks of light like comets, and exploding into clouds of sparkles when they hit their apogee. Some darted into the air, bursting into an upside down bowl with glittering tendrils reaching down to Earth, like a translucent jellyfish swimming through the night, before vanishing. Others shot up, bursting into tendrils of yellow and green that seemed to spin as they twinkled and vanished.

Spots of light arced into a fan of red, leaving a visible trail of sparks. One firework exploded into a sparkling, crackling waterfall that reminded him of magnesium shavings catching fire in the sky.  Smaller streaks of light darted overhead, crisscrossing in crazy patterns as they raced away from the explosion’s center

Once more the music ended, and for the space of two breaths, all was silent. Then a barrage of _Pop!Pop!Pop!Pop!Pop_ heralded the finale. Gold and silver zoomed through the sky in a dazzling display, with red and green darting through as firework after firework burst into thousands of sparkling points of light.

Q felt stunned as the crescendo of pops and bursts of color ended. _Was that it?_ As if waking from a dream, he turned to the others next to him, seeing his own daze reflected in their faces. No one wanted to say anything for fear of breaking the spell.

Alec sauntered into view with a smug smile, ready to accept his well-earned accolades.

Q grabbed him and pulled him down for a kiss. James got in on the action with an arm around each of them, hugging tight. When they came up for air, there was one final cheer.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love reviews, comments, and any other sort of communication. Feel free to stop in to say hi - you can find me on Tumblr at leavesdancing.tumblr.com


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